The Conflict Within

Within. How's your heart? How do you process all the information spinning around in your mind? When you reach out to grab that one thought floating by, what feeling comes up for you? Who else is involved, and if it's anything but positive, what can you do to find your peace?

Often we enter a battle zone with ourselves that ends up doing more harm than good. We avoid telling our partner the words they used impacted us in a way that hurt. We react in anger when really we're just afraid. Sometimes we walk away from a person, a job, or even our own dreams without confronting the root of the problem, creating space for "I wish I had" or "I could have done that differently."

So how can we get better at working through internal conflict that leads to holistic and healthy decision-making?

Practice.

Vulnerability.

Willingness to confront our own fears.

Courage to walk through, not away from conflict that arises in our personal and professional relationships.

Knowing on some level that you CAN have healthy emotional responses, boundaries, and fulfilling relationships.

I believe in the process of conflict resolution. I have witnessed the effects of active listening and facilitating conversation between individuals that produces understanding and connection. Sometimes that looks like an ongoing relationship; other times it means people walk away from each other forever but with a sense of dignity and respect. Does everyone achieve the same end result? No. Do some people decide they aren't ready to deal with shit and flat out refuse to care? Absolutely. Before you even walk into the space where you begin to unpack your issues, you can decide to give it everything you have in order to have peace within.

What keeps you from walking towards tough conversations? How can you foster a dialogue within yourself to confront conflict within you that affects your relationships with integrity?

Think about it.

If you have something you'd like to talk about or potentially work through, by yourself or with someone else, you can reach out to me on the CONFLICT WORK page on my website.